


Solace in Silence

by Raelilly



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, American Sign Language, Coffee Shops, Fluff, M/M, Nico can sign, hearing impaired Will
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-23
Updated: 2016-04-23
Packaged: 2018-06-04 02:16:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6637021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raelilly/pseuds/Raelilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nico never expected that knowing sign language would help him get a date. Especially not in a coffee shop at 5am.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Solace in Silence

**Author's Note:**

> Dialog in italics is signed by the speaker, regular text dialog is spoken aloud. I hope I didn't make it confusing!
> 
> Also it was never ever my intent to be disrespectful or make light of those who are hearing impaired. Please let me know if I have inadvertently offended.

The benefit of being out and about on Olympus University’s campus at 5am was that there weren’t many other students to get in your way. The drawback for Nico di Angelo was that if he was up at 5am it was because he had been up all night (in this case studying for his midterms), and if he hadn’t slept yet that meant he was headed only one place: Campus Coffee Hut. It wasn’t so much that Nico liked coffee, it was just that he needed it to function like a normal human being, especially if he was going to make it to his first class in a few hours. And so it was that he found himself stumbling across the pre-dawn calm of the quad, 10 hours of studying under his belt, his worn leather jacket wrapped tight around his shoulders, on a quest for the strongest double cappuccino the barista could make. He idly wondered if Grover would be working, that guy knew his coffee.

When he reached Campus Coffee Hut Nico immediately noticed two things. One, Grover was NOT working (dammit). Just his luck it would be Drew, his least favorite barista, and she already looked irritated (which honestly just saved Nico the trouble of annoying her himself). Two, the coffee shop was not actually empty as he had expected. Nico could see one other customer, a tall (unseasonably tan) blonde was standing at the counter gesturing dramatically at Drew. He kept pushing his hands forward, spaced evenly apart, he would do it three times, each time his hands getting farther apart. Nico’s eyebrows drew together in mild confusion, what was going on here?

Drew sighed dramatically. “Listen, I told you, I have no idea what your deal is but if you’re not going to order something I’m going to have to ask you to leave. Don’t make me call the security team you freak.” The blonde looked down at Drew (wow the guy was tall), frustration clear on his face, and began gesturing once again, this time the motions were less frantic, much more controlled and….. something Nico understood.

In his mind Nico was instantly pulled back ten years into his past. He remembers sitting with his sister Bianca on the back porch of their old home. The summer heat was oppressive, but neither of the siblings minded. Bianca had been volunteering at a summer day camp, teaching arts and crafts and archery to the younger students. She had explained to Nico that some of the campers were special, and so she had to learn a special way to communicate with them. “We can use it too Nico, so Dad won’t know what we’re saying to each other. It will be special, just for us, see?” she had explained as she showed him how each movement of her hands had a meaning. They had spent the whole summer learning together, until they been able to communicate flawlessly, even from across the room, and their father was none the wiser. When Hazel had come along they had taught her as well. The three siblings had continued to use their special communication over the years, and so Nico was well practiced.

Nico stepped forward and laid a gentle hand on the blonde’s arm. The man turned towards Nico, confusion now evident in his blue (flawless, gorgeous) eyes. Nico’s hands began to move of their own accord, the months that had passed since he’d last signed only seemed to have slowed him down a little bit.

“ _I can sign, can I order for you?_ ”

The look of relief that washed over the blonde’s face made Nico’s heart rate increase by a fraction. When he reached over and grabbed Nico’s shoulders in gratitude Nico almost had a heart attack.

“ _Oh thank GOD! This girl is so dense I thought I would die of caffeine deprivation waiting for her to understand!_ ”

Nico had to laugh at that, before signing in return “ _I got the large part, what would you like?_ ”

“ _Large caramel_ (Nico didn’t recognize the next hand motion) _with an extra shot and a blueberry muffin, but at this point I’ll take anything with caffeine. Please and thank you!_ ”

Nico repeated the hand motion that he didn’t understand “ _I don’t know that, can you spell it?_ ”

The blonde smiled, he turned to the menu board with an intense look of concentration before signing “ _Yeah, it’s…. M A C C H I A T O._ ” Nico couldn’t help but notice that the tip of his tongue poked between his lips as he did so. Not that that was cute or anything. Whatever.

Drew’s eyes had narrowed to slits as she watched the exchange. “Ugh, I should have known you speak freak di Angelo. Do you know this guy? What’s his problem?”

Nico returned her glare before answering “I don’t know him, but I know that like me, his only problem is you. He’s deaf Drew, the guy just wants some coffee and you were going to call security.”

Drew had the decency to look slightly embarrassed before she quickly returned to her normal self and rolled her eyes “well how was I supposed to know that?”

Nico returned the eye roll before replying “well it is a coffee shop, maybe he wanted to buy a car? Geez Drew even I thought you were smarter than that.”

She rolled her eyes again “well what does he want then, I don’t have all day.”

“Large caramel macchiato, extra shot, and a blueberry muffin.”

As Drew was punching the order into the register the blond tapped Nico’s shoulder. “ _Hey, order yours too, my treat. It’s the least I can do._ ”

Never one to refuse free caffeine, Nico signed a quick “ _Thank you_ ” before giving Drew his order. The blonde smiled at Drew as he paid.

“I’ll have these up in a bit,” Drew stated as she stepped towards the espresso machine. “You should probably get his name, and maybe his number, while you wait.” She flashed Nico a smug smile before stepping behind the espresso machine. Leave it to Drew to assume that Nico would be interested in every guy he came across. He was gay, not indiscriminate. Nico chose to ignore the fact that in this case Drew had been spot on, this guy was definitely good looking. He turned back to the blonde just in time to catch him in a huge yawn.

“ _Long night?_ ” he signed with a smirk.

“ _Yeah, I’ve been up all night studying. You’re one to talk, you look like death in combat boots! I’m Will by the way._ ”

Nico smiled as he replied “ _Nico,_ ” he reached out for a quick handshake before finishing “ _I’ve been up all night too. I’d blame the lack of sleep, but I’m pretty sure I always look like this. Besides, you’re one to talk, it’s not like you’re full of sunshine either!_ ”

Will smiled and shrugged “ _Well Death Boy, I wouldn’t worry, it looks good on you._ ” Wait, was that a compliment? Was Will flirting?

“ _So you know the coffee girl?_ ” Will nodded towards Drew, who was surreptitiously watching them as she made their coffee. “ _Is she always like that? Usually when I come here it’s the guy with the goatee and rainbow hat. He knows my order by now, I like him._ ”

“ _That’s Grover, yeah he’s cool. Drew’s ok, she usually works evenings. My sister says she just doesn’t belong in customer service. I guess I wouldn’t do so well in customer service either, so I can’t say I blame her. I’ve never seen you here before, you come a lot?_ ” Nico winced internally as soon as he finished signing the question. Had he really just pulled out a “come here often?” What was wrong with him? He wasn’t even sure if Will was into guys, but even if he was Nico was sure he had just blown any chance he may have had. For once he was grateful for Drew as she placed their coffees on the counter along with a paper bag containing Will’s muffin.

“All set!” she announced before returning to her post by the register. Will grabbed his coffee and the bag and turned to head towards the door. Nico sighed heavily and headed back to the register. There was no way Drew would keep quiet about this to their shared friend group, and he knew Piper would be the first person she would tell (if they weren’t already texting about it), which meant Jason would know in record time. With midterms already taking up all of the available space in his head Nico knew he needed to head off this stress before it started. He approached Drew warily.

“I made those drinks as slow as humanly possible, and still I didn’t see an exchange of numbers. Do you even HAVE any game di Angelo?” Nico sighed before pulling out his wallet and flashing a $10 bill at Drew.

“Nobody hears about this, understand?” he stuffed the bill into the empty tip jar. Drew eyed it briefly before pulling it out and handing it back.

“No dice Nico. Listen, I know we aren’t the best of friends,” Nico snorted at the understatement, “but I know body language, I’m a psych major, remember? Even without knowing what you were saying I know he was flirting with you. So suck it up, keep your ten bucks, hurry up and ask for his number. You ask him and I swear I won’t say anything to anybody, even if you strike out. I swear on the river Styx.”

Nico was beyond surprised, not only did Drew appear to be on his side for once, she was also trying to do something nice for him, and she managed to work in a Greek mythology reference. Nico hadn’t even been sure that she knew what his major was before that moment. He was still staring at her in confusion when she sighed heavily “he’s waiting for you by the door, are you going to get his number or do I have to do it for you? I swear Nico you are SO bad at this.”

Nico turned in confusion, only to see that she was right. Will stood beside the door, his coffee and muffin resting on the table next to him, as he pretended to be very interested in zipping up his jacket very VERY slowly. Nico swallowed heavily. What did he have to lose? He hadn’t seen this guy before, even though they evidently frequented the same coffee shop, so odds were in his favor that if he struck out he would never have to face the guy again. He glanced at Drew, who rolled her eyes and made shooing motions with her hands. Nico swallowed hard again. He headed over to where Will was still completely absorbed with his jacket zipper.

Will looked up and smiled as Nico approached. He brushed blonde curls out of his eyes before signing “ _You know, I was thinking, how about I buy you coffee some time?_ ”

Nico wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed that Will had beat him to the punch, but he smiled just the same before signing back “ _I think you just did_ ” with a smirk.

Will’s mouth flopped open briefly, and a soft flush spread over his cheeks. Nico noticed that he had a spray of freckles across his nose, and his heart skipped a beat. He was so screwed.

“ _But I was thinking, maybe I could buy you diner some time? I mean, after midterms, and after we each have a chance to catch up on sleep._ ” Nico realized he was rambling even in sign language. Drew was right, he was bad at this.

Nico’s lack of dating skills didn’t seem to matter to Will, who grinned and reached out his hand. Nico looked up at him in confusion. Will signed “ _I don’t have my phone, give me yours and I’ll add my number. Text me and we can set up a time._ ”

Nico handed over his phone and Will started typing. Nico glanced over at Drew, she looked at him with eyebrows raised in a way that clearly stated “I TOLD you so!” It took Nico more effort than it should have to not roll his eyes at her in response.

Will handed back the phone before signing “ _ok, I have to get back to my dorm and shower before my 8am class. Text me! I’ll be waiting for it! See you Death Boy!_ ” He grabbed his things and hurried out the door.

Nico opened up his phone to see that Will had added his contact information, he had also added four little sun emoji’s after his name. Nico smiled before pocketing his phone and grabbing his coffee. His steps were a little lighter as he headed back to his dorm. Bianca and Hazel were never going to believe it when he told them about this one.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not the only one that wants Drew to have a redemption arc, right? 
> 
> Thank you for reading! :)


End file.
